Knicks’ Coaching Options Are Clear, Except Maybe to Phil Jackson

As much as he fancies himself the consummate contrarian and Zen-versed outlier to conventional thinking, Phil Jackson’s supposed preference for removing the interim label on Kurt Rambis as the Knicks’ head coach now seems extreme and perhaps even irrational.

On Thursday, Larry Bird, the Indiana Pacers’ president, announced that Frank Vogel would not return as head coach after five and a half seasons, five playoff appearances and two Eastern Conference finals runs, thwarted in both of those instances by no less formidable an opponent than LeBron James’s Miami Heat.

Vogel, 42, has won more N.B.A. games than any Pacers coach before him, worked briefly for the Los Angeles Lakers as an advance scout during Jackson’s coaching reign there, has spoken glowingly of Jackson’s stylistic influence on the sport and flattered him further by hiring Brian Shaw, a Jackson protégé, as an assistant in Indiana.

Vogel was also not only born (Pensacola, Fla.) and raised (Wildwood, N.J.) in the United States — as was David Blatt, who was recently interviewed for the head-coaching job by Jackson — he came up, unlike Blatt, through the coaching ranks the good old American way.

In other words, there is nothing on Vogel’s résumé that occurred in any other country than the one that claims to have invented the game and most of the sideshows that go with it.

Meanwhile, according to a person close to Blatt, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the current coaching search, Blatt at least came away from his chat with Jackson with the belief that he was a legitimate candidate for the Knicks job.

He pitched himself to Jackson as a defensive-minded coach who, while playing collegiately at Princeton, was reared on the joy of a deliberate, five-man offense and therefore amenable to embracing Jackson’s beloved triangle. He reminded Jackson that he initially went to Cleveland in 2014 to coach a young, undisciplined Cavaliers team, a work in progress. That was before James suddenly returned as the homecoming King, when the Cavs were essentially the Knicks, minus the veteran shotmaking of Carmelo Anthony.

As for what occurred in Cleveland during Blatt’s season and a half there, wasn’t it obvious that he couldn’t win over James without winning a championship? This, in large part, was because James, the de facto franchise strongman, didn’t choose or approve Blatt as coach in the first place. Nor did it help that James created an immediate all-or-nothing mandate in Cleveland through the Kevin Love acquisition after initially pleading for patience with an inexperienced roster.

As impressive a coaching portfolio as Blatt created overseas in places like Russia and Israel, there was never a chance it would provide him with the leverage or credibility to avoid becoming the scapegoat with the Cavaliers, even after getting to two victories away from the title last June without two of the team’s best three players and despite winning 30 of 41 games this season with a still-battered roster.

Yes, it has long been established that foreign-born players can thrive here, in an N.B.A. of opulence and opportunity. But what about European-trained coaches? We checked in with Maurizio Gherardini, a longtime Italian league general manager who worked in the Toronto Raptors’ front office as an assistant general manager for seven years before taking over the Turkish power Fenerbahce Ulker.

“I’ve been privileged enough in my years at Benetton Treviso to work with three N.B.A.-to-become coaches — Mike D’Antoni, David Blatt and Ettore Messina,” he said. “The commitment by an N.B.A. franchise to go for a Euro coach is more complicated, even if he may eventually be a great strategist or an innovator.”

He added: “D’Antoni was initially perceived not much of an option when he first started in Denver, but then in Phoenix he developed a basketball style that somehow changed the overall quality of the game — and it’s not a surprise that the Warriors and Steve Kerr somehow have developed their game on the basis of the basketball played those years in Phoenix.

“Messina has taken the path of showing his value on a prestigious bench like the Spurs’ in order to increase his chances. Blatt coached the best player in the game in Cleveland, but he was perceived more European than American and, bottom line, it will always take a strong commitment by an organization to go for a foreign coach as such a decision needs to be bought into by your top players who, most of the time, are not European.”

Too often, old-school perception weighs more heavily than performance. Had Blatt coached at Kentucky, he would have American court cred. James never bought into him. His teammates followed their leader.

That doesn’t mean Blatt would not be a good fit with the Knicks. Jackson’s original coaching choice, Golden State’s Kerr, was about to hire Blatt as an assistant before Cleveland signed him. He no doubt has endorsed Blatt to Jackson.

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Frank Vogel, along with his strong coaching résumé, was recently let go by the Pacers.CreditDarron Cummings/Associated Press

Would Anthony, James’s good buddy, buy in? He doesn’t have James’s clout, nor does he deserve it, and, anyway, Kristaps Porzingis represents the Knicks’ long-term future. Porzingis, a 20-year-old Latvian, would not be an issue. But if Jackson is concerned about Blatt’s impact on Anthony and possibly others easily influenced by James, including targeted free agents, he now has Vogel on the coaching free-agent market.

In Indianapolis, Bird said, “It’s time for a new voice around here,” saying he preferred to play a faster brand of ball, even if Vogel’s roster wasn’t exactly Golden State speedy. Fair enough. Coaches are hired to be fired, but those with solid reputations also get rehired.

Already mentioned as a possibility in Houston, Vogel probably won’t be unemployed very long. Blatt could wind up in Sacramento, where Vivek Ranadive, born in India, is the owner and Vlade Divac, a Serb, is the top basketball executive.

The time for Jackson to act would seem to be soon, unless he really is intent on running out the clock to facilitate the anointing of his friend, the 58-year-old Rambis, and his 65-164 career coaching record.

That would be a decision sure to infuriate the Knicks’ fan base, at least some of the players and possibly the owner, James L. Dolan. But with all the brand-name coaches he has ignored, Jackson still has viable options, solid choices.

He just has to make one, and let common sense triumph over the temptation to be contrary.

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page B13 of the New York edition with the headline: Knicks’ Options Are Clear, Except Maybe to Jackson. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe